Life as I see it… sort of.

I arrived at work one person and left someone else (I’m actually still at work, but I liked the way that sounded). I was robbed. Robbed right where I work. Some nice kids stole my cell phone… and my sense of security and well being. Granted, I left it sitting on a sandal, but I did cover it with the other one. A lot of help that did.

Three ten year old boys robbed my cell phone while getting a glass of water from one of my co-workers. It made me sick to my stomach. I felt dirty (that had nothing to do with the robbery).

We figured it out through discussion and deduction. A few of us were gone from the building for about an hour. When we came back I noticed my sandals were separated and my phone wasn’t there. People mess with each other at my work so I didn’t think the worst. A guy had driven through where the sandals were and insisted that the cell wasn’t there then. He helped me look everywhere and It didn’t make any sense. We called it and it went straight to voice-mail (this made me upset for two reasons: I knew that the power was on; and that I had to listen to my whiny message on the voice-mail).

We gave up looking (me first) and I attempted to eat dinner. It was hard to swallow. I felt angry and started to believe that it had been stolen. That’s when one of the guys casually mentioned that he gave three kids water. He still didn’t suspect them, but another guy said they looked like they hurried out of here. Ah ha!

He said, “I know what they look like. Let’s find ’em.”

I said, “Good idea.” I kept telling myself to keep my cool if we find them, because I don’t need to be the one getting arrested.

They were only two blocks away under an overpass.

Four of us got out of the truck at the same time and questioned them. We’re all in our 30’s, 40’s and 50’s and the kids are about ten. Who’s smarter? Probably them, but that’s beside the point. One of them immediately pulled the cell phone from his pocket and said, “We thought it was my cousin’s.”

“Does your cousin work there?” The obvious answer was no. Only eight of us work at the same time and his cousin (if he has one) isn’t one of the eight.

Luckily the guy doing the most talking kept his cool because I was blowing up inside. I told them that I should make them get off of their bikes and take them and asked how they would like it. I also banned them from ever stepping foot in our building ever again, even if it was on a school field trip. Why they would have a field trip to a cat-bathing facility I don’t know (see “Self Awareness” entry).

In the end we drove over to one’s house and told his parents. His father wanted us to have him arrested. The kids, not the father. Unfortunately we didn’t. But I have a feeling that this kid is in a lot of physical pain right now and I hope that he learned his lesson. I know that I did. I’ll never leave my cell phone or anything else valuable out when we have to leave the building again. And I’ll always wear clean underwear. Well, not always.